The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in South Korea announced the launch of the Asia-Pacific Food Regulatory Authority Summit (APFRAS) Secretariat on Jan. 15 to support the activities of the international cooperative body aimed at leading food sector international cooperation and regulatory harmonization.
Following the decision made at the inaugural APFRAS meeting last year, South Korea was elected as the first chair country, set to serve in this role for three years. The Ministry has established the Secretariat to oversee comprehensive execution related to APFRAS.
The main responsibilities of the Secretariat include planning and managing APFRAS meetings, expanding and managing member countries, supporting working group activities, and operating the APFRAS website and its promotional activities.
The 2nd APFRAS meeting organized by the Secretariat is scheduled to take place in Seoul from May 13 to 14. It will be held in conjunction with the 23rd Food Safety Day ceremony and will feature an opening ceremony, a food safety conference, an executive meeting, and a K-Food promotional event.
APFRAS, established in May last year under the leadership of South Korea, is the world’s first food regulatory authority council formed to collectively respond to the rapidly changing food environment in the Asia-Pacific region. Its establishment aims at solving global common issues in the food sector and promoting regulatory harmonization.
The establishment of APFRAS has facilitated more streamlined regulatory harmonization among member countries, shortening consultation periods. This has notably contributed to the simplification of the local import permit process for health functional foods exported from South Korea to Vietnam, thereby aiding the expansion of South Korean health food exports.
As the inaugural chair of APFRAS, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety plans to continue expanding food regulatory cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and actively support more domestic food companies in entering the global market by promoting South Korea’s superior food safety management system.